"The State compensates victims of the harmful effects of pesticides, but it is considering re-authorizing the use of substances whose harmfulness has been proven."

At the recent symposium held at the Nantes University Hospital on the links between environmental factors and facial malformations – notably cleft lip and palate – the National Assembly was preparing to examine the so-called "Duplomb" bill . This text provides for the reintroduction of certain pesticides, banned in France since 2016.

As a reminder, cleft lip and palate – formerly known as "harelips" – are common malformations, affecting approximately one in 700 children. They result from very early embryonic development abnormalities, between the fourth and tenth week of pregnancy, i.e. at a time when expectant mothers are generally unaware that they are pregnant. These malformations, often visible during antenatal ultrasounds, lead to, to varying degrees, feeding, speech, and dental disorders, sometimes with significant psychological consequences for the child and their family. Their medical management, although progressing, remains long, complex, and sometimes disappointing from an aesthetic or functional point of view.

Today, there is a medical consensus regarding the causes of these malformations, according to which at least two-thirds of them have an environmental component: they result from an interaction between genetic predispositions and toxic substances present in the living and working environment of pregnant women (tobacco, alcohol, solvents, etc.). Thus, the possible role of occupational exposure of mothers to pesticides is now well documented. This link has been mentioned in the medical literature since the 1980s. Cleft lip and palate are among the pediatric pathologies identified by Inserm in the two reference collective expert reports on the role of pesticides on human health, as well as other health problems (including certain pediatric cancers, neurodevelopmental disorders and other types of genital malformations).

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